Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides Book 6

εἶναι ἐν διανοίᾳ: = διανοεῖσθαι. Cf. ἐν ἐλπίδι εἶναι 4. 70. 20.

καὶ ἄνευ τούτων : i.e. without this message. But Cl. prefers to take τούτων as mase., referring to the Catanaeans.—[παρεσκευάσθαι]: bracketed by nearly all recent editors. It seems clearly a gloss of εἶναι ἐν διανοίᾳ, certainly cannot as pf. inf. depend on that. Possible would be παρασκευάσασθαι of four Mss.

ἀπερισκεπτότερον: too incautiously. See on 57. 12.— 5. ἀπέστειλαν αὐτόν: sent him back, reckoning on the uprising of the Catanacans. In accordance with this expectation they themselves begin to carry out the plan agreed upon: καὶ αὐτοὶ . . . Συρακοσίοις, and they themselves made proclamation for the whole force of the Syracusans to go out. The parenthesis ἤδη γὰρ . . . παρῆσαν, coming before the repetitive and explanatory statement in 67. § 2 ἐβοήθησαν δὲ . . . ὡς πεντήκοντα, was suspected by Cl. But it probably explains why all the Syracusans could march out (Kr.). For allies to remain behind to protect the city (e.g. against the Sicels) would not be strange, since such a service was freq. rendered among the Hellenes for an allied state (5. 23. § 1 f., 47. § 3 f.). Cf. also 5. 33. 9 οἱ Μαντινῆς τὴν πόλιν Ἀργείοις φύλαξι παραδόντες αὐτοὶ τὴν ξυμμαχίαν ἐφρούρουν.

πανδημεὶ πᾶσιν ἐξιέναι Συρακοσίοις : for like pleonasm, cf. 1. 90. 22 τειχίζειν πάντας πανδημεὶ τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει.

ἑτοῖμα αὐτοῖς : belongs only to the first of the foll. clauses and hence was to be expected after καί. For examples of like irregular order, see on 2. 46. 1.—τὰ τῆς παρασκευῆς: cf. 29. 3.

αἱ ἡμέραι ἐν αἶς...ἥξειν : pl. including the day of the march from Syracuse as well as that agreed upon for the attack (cf. 1. 5). Steup puts a comma after ἐγγύς, construing the adv. with ἥξειν and taking ἦσαν as equiv. to ἐφῆκον. But this view is not likely to receive support.

ἐπὶ τῷ Συμαίθῳ: the chief stream of the plain of Catana, and largest of Sicily; now Simeto or Giaretta. It was in Leontine territory, hence in the hands of the Syracusans. See Holm I, 27 f., 340.

τὸ στράτευμα ἅπαν: including the ψιλοί and ὄχλος of 64. § 1.—ὅσοι Σικελῶν: who had been summoned 62. § 5.

ἢ ἄλλος τις: included in ὅσοι, unless we should read ἢ εἰ ἄλλος τις. Non-Sicel allies of the Athenians were Egesta, Catana, and Naxos; besides, Leontine fugitives were doubtless with the Athenian army (cf. 8. § 2, 50. § 4).

τὰς ναῦς καὶ τὰ πλοῖα: cf. 4. 116. 4 τοῖς τε πλοίοις καὶ ταῖς ναυσί. With the πλοῖα are prob. included the ὁλκάδες of 30. 3 and 44. 6.—ὑπὸ νύκτα: see on 64. 3.

ἅμα ἕῳ: applying also to καὶ οἱ ἱππῆς ἀγγέλλουσι. The coincidence in time is emphasized by οἵ τε Ἀθηναῖοι . . . καὶ οἱ ἱππῆς.

ἐς τὸ κατὰ τὸ Ὀλυμπιεῖον : (nearly all Mss. have ἐς τὸν, sc. χῶρον or τόπον) in the place opposite the Olympieum (cf. 64. 11): “Whoever sailed [from the east] into the bay called the Great Harbor of Syracuse had directly before him a ridge crowned by the temple of Olympian Zeus, remains of which are still visible in the grainfield” (Holm II, 26).

ὡς τὸ στρατόπεδον καταληψόμενοι: as planned 64. § 1, hence the art., which Laur. wrongly omits.

πρῶτοι: in front. Cf. 66. 12.—προσελάσαντες ἐς τὴν Κατάνην: one Ms. (M) omits ἐς, and so Hude writes τῇ Κατάνῃ. Steup agrees that ἐς Κατάνην, into Catana (whether city or territory), is out of place with προσελάσαντες, riding up, and suggests προελάσαντες.

ἀνῆκται : the pf. indicating that the army is gone and they are deceived.—ἀποστρέψαντες: aor. of the sudden turning back of the horsemen.

ἀποτρεπόμενοι ἐβοήθουν: of the longer return march of the whole army, Schol. ὀπίσω ἐπανερχόμενοι.